Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

The study was novel because it focused on attempts to change a person's gender identity rather than sexual orientation, which previous research has looked at. “What this new study shows is that transgender people who are exposed to conversion efforts anytime in their lives have more than double the odds of attempting suicide," said study co-author Dr. Alex Keuroghlian.

NBC News:
Transgender 'Conversion Therapy' Associated With 'Severe Psychological Distress'
Exposure to "conversion therapy" — efforts by a secular or religious professional to change a transgender person’s gender identity — is associated with thoughts of and attempts at suicide, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Dr. Jack Turban, the study’s lead author and a resident physician in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said it was the first study "to show that gender identity conversion efforts are associated with adverse mental health outcomes, including suicide attempts.” (Fitzsimons, 9/11)

The Washington Post:
Conversion Therapy Associated With Severe Psychological Distress In Transgender People, Study Says
Researchers analyzed survey responses from more than 27,000 transgender adults across the United States and U.S. territories and military bases, roughly evenly divided between those who had been identified as boys at birth and those who had been identified as girls. People who said they had undergone conversion therapy at any point during their lifetime were twice as likely to have attempted suicide than those who had never undergone such therapies. And those who were subjected to conversion efforts during childhood were four times as likely to have tried to take their own lives, the researchers said. (Bever, 9/11)

Politico:
Council Set To Repeal Its Conversion Therapy Ban In Face Of Lawsuit
The City Council is planning to repeal the ban on conversion therapy it passed with much fanfare just two years ago, an unusual maneuver designed to sidestep a lawsuit from an anti-LGBTQ hate group based in Arizona. Conversion therapy aims to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and has been banned in a host of states. Speaker Corey Johnson on Thursday plans to introduce legislation that would repeal New York City's prohibition on the practice. (Anuta, 9/11)

People:
Conversion Therapy Founder Who Came Out As Gay
McKrae Game, the man who founded one of the biggest conversion therapy programs in the country, is opening up about his decision to come out as gay after leading the homophobic organization for 20 years. Game, 51, appeared on Tuesday’s episode of Tamron Hall, the former NBC journalist’s new self-titled talk show, where Game spoke candidly about his decision to go public with his truth after vehemently preaching that being gay would send someone to hell. (Adams, 9/10)

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